Still and decanter for the recovery of products from alcoholic solutions of oleaginous materials



Jan. 25, 1949- A. c. BECKEL ET AL 7 STILL AND DECANTER FOR THE RECO VERY OF PRODUCTS FROM ALCOHOLIC SOLUTIONS OF OLEAGINOUS MATERIALS Original Filed April 18, 1945 INVENTORS A.C. BECKEL. P A. BELTER SDDO T UOdVA :0 OmJPhuw kudbo 023000 muhud :O Z wm Om m0 zorrodmhxw 4010044 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 25, 1949 STILL AND DECANTER FOR THE RECOVERY OF PRODUCTS FROM ALCOHOLIC SOLU- TIONS OF OLEAGINOUS MATERIALS Arthur C. Beckel, Peoria. and Paul A. Belter, Pekin, Ill., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Original application April 18, 1945. Serial No. 589,006. Divided and this application August 26, 1946, Serial No. 692,942

3 Claims. (!.202-176) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act of April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described and claimed, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty there- This is a division of our copending application for patent Serial No. 589,006, filed April 18, 1945.

This invention relates to the recovery of ethyl alcohol, oil, and byproducts from solutions resulting from extraction of oil-bearing seeds, such as soybeans, with alcohol or certain alcoholic solutions, and the general object of this invention is the provision of a continuous process for accomplishing this result.

Vegetable oils are generally obtained from plant materials either by pressing or by extraction with a volatile solvent. The extraction process is rapidly gaining in favor because of its economic advantages and because it is possible to exercise better control over the qualities of the products derived. With the solvents in general use, it is still necessary to subject the products to rather extensive refinin processes which include removal of the heat precipitable material known as break from the oils and removal of the bitter and odoriferous constituents from the oil and meal by steaming,

Extraction of soybean oil from the seed by means of ethyl alcohol has many advantagesamong. which are: (1) The separation of a nonbreak type of soybean oil instead of the break" type of oil prepared by other methods; (2) the production of a superior residual meal having a bland flavor and a highly improved color which permit the incorporation of the meal in foods for human consumption, and also permit the preparation of a protein equaling casein in color; and (3) the recovery of byproducts not obtainable by expression methods or by extraction with the usual solvents.

mains constant as The method used for the extraction of vegetable oils by means of alcohol comprises extractlng the oil at or.near the boiling point of the alcohol, cooling, separating that oil which settles, and recirculating the supernatant solution. At the last step in the cycle the solution is drawn off into a still to recover the oil remaining in solution. This oil is known as the residual oil."

With the exception of the last step, the usual batch process could be converted into a continuous process by recycling the alcoholic supernatant solution, for example, by removing a portion of the solution continuously and adding recovered alcohol in like amounts so that the concentration of the dissolved materials rethe extraction proceeds continuously. The oil-bearing material could be conveyed through the system by one of several known methods.

The final step, that is, the recovery of the alcohol, the oil which did not separate on cooling, and the byproducts, has not been heretofore accomplished in a continuous manner. The procedure in the prior art has been to evaporate partially the solution and then cool it'to recover substances insoluble in cold alcohol, repeating the procedure as many times as necessary. This must be performed on a batch basis.

In the prior art, difficulties have been encountered which have hindered the development of a continuous process. The use of the ordinary pot still type of evaporator heats the entire solution during removal of a portion of the alcohol. This continued heating results in caramelizetion and other heat induced changes resulting in the deposition of a tarry, syrupy mass which resists the transfer of heat and represents an irrecoverable loss in material from the process. A similar effect occurs with other evaporators. Furthermore, the miscibility of soybean oil in alcohol in the neighborhood of the boiling point is substantially complete. This behavior seems to preclude the possibility of a hot continuous process.

In the prior art, another difficulty in the extraction of soybean oil with alcohol is encountered in the stage of the process permitting the recovery of the major portion of the oil by settling out the droplets. This separation usually requires four or five hours. Through the use of a natural-circulation, long-tube, rising-film evaporator, we have found that relatively large drops of oil can be separated in a disengaging column or chamber where the vaporized .alcohol I this manner, residual is freed from the unevaporated liquid, and that,

if these drops of separated material are removed from the solution in a separator, the evaporator does not become fouled and the increased concentration of the solution may proceed. .In oil can be obtained economically and continuously from the solution. By a second similar stage, the valuable byproduct consisting of crude'lecithin and sugar can be obtained economically and continuously.

An embodiment of our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing which is in the form of a schematic flow diagram. In this diagram, the numerals ll, l2, and I3 designate the evaporator, column or chamber, and separator, respectively, referred to above.

The second stage of the process operates on solution withdrawn from the first stage on the return line 14 between the separator and the evaporator. The rate of withdrawal of solution from the first stage must be regulated t the rate of influx of fresh extract and the rate. of removal of alcohol in the evaporator. The object of such regulation is the maintenance of the concentration of oil and other materials in the solution in the region where the clear oil carrying a small amount of alcohol separates from the solution. The end point of this region is sharply defined, and, when the concentration is carried beyond the proper point, the thick dark lecithin and sugar mixture begins to separate in the first stage instead of in the second. The concentration of this sharply defined point is dependent upon the temperature at which the concentration takes place since the solubility of the oil in the alco-.

hol is a function of the temperature and also since the temperature at which the concentration takes place is dependent upon the pressure existing in the system. For example, the process may be carried out under a pressure of about 500 mm. of mercury under which condition the boiling point of the alcohol, and consequently the temperature of the evaporation, is about 67.5 C., and the sharply defined point is reached when the solution has been concentrated to one-ninth of its original volume. However, this invention is not limited to the use. of any specific pressure with its corresponding temperature since the process can be carried out at higher and lower pressures and temperatures than those indicated in the above example. Furthermore, it is not necessary to maintain a temperature diiferential between the evaporator and the separator. The process proceeds satisfactorily in either case although more economically without the temperature difierence.

The second stage utilizes similar evaporator l5, disengaging column or chamber I6, and separator I1, and it operates in the same manner as the first stage. The thick dark mixture which separates in the second stage separator i1 consists of lecithin, sugar, and a small amount of oil, the quantities of the latter depending upon the concentration maintained in the first stage. The quantity of sugar dissolved from the bean during the extraction of the oil depends on the strength of the alcohol, since the solubility of sugar increases as the alcohol concentration decreases from 100 percent. This variation in the relative quantity of sugar to that of lecithin is not great however since the ethyl alcohol normally used for oil extraction varies only between about 95 percent/and 100 percent. Since the concentration of the sugar and oil in the separated composition varies independently, the concentration of the lecithin also varies. The quantity of sugar relative to that of lecithin varies with the variety and the agronomic history of the original bean. Although the relative quantities of sugar and lecithin in the separated composition cannot be controlled, the quantity of oil can be varied by controlling the amount of oil removed in the first stage. By retaining all the oil from the first stage, a composition of matter is obtained consisting of about 70 percent of soybean oil, about 25 percent of crude lecithin, and about 5 percent of crude sugars. By removing as much oil as practicable in the first stage, another variety of this composition of matter is obtained consisting of about 20 percent of soybean oil, about 65 percent of crude lecithin, and about 15 percent of crude sugars. Consequently, by varying the amount of oil removed in the first stage, compositions intermediate of these two extremes may be obtained, namely, 20 to 70 percent soybean oil, 25 to 65 percent lecithin, and 5 to 15 percent sugars. When separated into cooling pans, the material solidifies on cooling and may be used as a raw material in the chocolate industry or it may be processed by known methods for the recovery of lecithin and sugar as well as the small amount of oil.

The alcohol vapors from the columns or chambers l2 and I8 are delivered through pipes l8 and [9, respectively, to a condenser 20, from which they are recovered as the condensate.

This invention is not limited to the use of a natural-circulation, long-tube, rising-film evaporator. Any evaporator with natural or forced circulation in which the solution moves rapidly and in a thin film across ,the heating surface would be equally effective. Neither the pressure nor the corresponding temperature of vaporization normally encountered when alcohol is used as a solvent have critical limits for the successful operation of our process.

It will be apparent that various changes may be made in the conditions of the process without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention or sacrificing its advantages.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In an apparatus for continuously concentrating a liquid extract to remove volatile solvent therefrom, and cause separation of nonvolatiles, first and second circulatory systems, the first system comprising an elongated evaporator tube, a vapor disengaging chamber of greater cross-section than the evaporator tube,- a liquids separator, conduit means for feeding a liquid extract into the evaporator tube adjacent an inlet end thereof, means for withdrawing liquid and vapor from adjacent the opposite outlet end of the evaporator tube and for introducing the liquid and vapor into the vapor disengaging chamber, conduit means for withdrawing vapor from the upper part of the vapor disengaging chamber, conduit means connected between the disengaging chamber and the liquids separator for withdrawing liquid from the disengaging chamber and for introducing it into the liquids separator, conduit means for withdrawing liquid extract from the separator and returning it to the inlet end of the evaporator tube; the second system also comprising an elongated evaporator tube, vapor disengaging chamber of greater crosssection than the'latter tube, and a liquids separator, connected to each other as recited for the first system; and a conduit connected between the first system and the second system for removing liquid extract separated in the liquids 5 v 6 separatorof the first system and for introducing the liquid extract into the inlet end of the evap- REFERENCES CITED orator tube of the second system, The following references are of record in the th2. The apparatus described in claim 1 in which file of this patent:

ere is a condenser connected to the vapor outlets of the disengaging chambers. 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 3. The apparatus described in claim 1 in which Number Name Date the elongated evaporator tubes extend upwardly ,2 Walker Sept. 12, 1882 and are of the rising-liquid film type, the liquid 1.335.063 Langmeier Dec. 8, 1931 inlet conduits being connected adjacent the lower 1,933,505 M rl? 3 1933 ends 0! the tubes. 2,123,642 Wiezevich July 12, 1938 2,146,721 Conviser 1 Feb. 14, 1939 ARTHUR c, 3mm 2,411,809 Rupp et al Nov. 26, 1946 PAUL ,4. mm. 2.417.131 Schmidt Mar. 11, 1947 

